Daily Pulse: Feeling Hot?

The sweltering heat of summer does more than make you sweat: People’s tempers are measurably shorter in the warmth, and hot weather is associated with higher levels of aggression and violence. Trouble sleeping, dehydration, and restrictions on daily activities—all side effects of the heat—collectively lower mood and cause cranky behavior, so much so that experts advise against making important life decisions in the heat.

A technique originally created to help amputees deal with phantom limb pain has promising results for people suffering from arthritis. Relying on the idea that there’s a strong visual aspect to pain, mirror box therapy works by having patients look at the reflection of a healthy limb in a mirror that has been placed where the missing limb—or arthritic limb—should be. Watching the healthy limb go through normal movements seems to help ease confused signals between the brain and nerves, thereby reducing pain. So how well does it work? Arthritis patients who underwent the therapy reported a 50% decrease in their pain, and a few even reported that their pain vanished entirely.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture announced on Saturday that a New Jersey based company, Buona Vita., Inc., is recalling 324,770 pounds of frozen meat products due to a possible Listeria contamination. The USDA says the products were sold to facilities all over the country, and the infected brands include: Napoli, Bullpen, Whorle’s, M&R Frosted Food Co., Argenta Pride, Silver Lake Brand, Dirusso’s, Buona Vita, and Mama Isabella.

Reactions to traumatic situations differ from person to person: Some will forget an incident within a week while others will be plagued by memories months later. Now researchers think they know what happens when anxiety won’t go away. German scientists have shown that when too little of the chemical dynorphin—which has the effect of putting a damper on emotions—is released into the brain, feelings of anxiety persist.

If all vitamin claims were 100% true, we’d be superhuman by now. But Pfizer may have gone a little too far in their language for Centrum, which advertises “breast health” and “colon health” abilities. Last year, the consumer watch group Center for Science in the Public Interest threatened Pfizer with a lawsuit, saying their claims imply prevention of breast and colon cancer—claims supplement manufacturers can’t legally make. As a result, the drug company has agreed not to make claims about breast or colon health any longer.

The mom whose life revolves around her little ones may be giving up more than she knows. Women who were intensely focused on their children—and believed that mother’s roles were more important than father’s—were more likely to suffer from stress and depression, according to a new study from the University of Mary Washington that questioned 181 mothers. Researchers say that while these mothers may believe that sacrificing their own lifestyles will aid their children’s development, in reality intensive parenting may have a detrimental effect on children.

Exercise isn’t always easy; you expect to ache and twinge now and then. But how can you tell the difference between good feel-the-burn pain, and bad I-think-I-pulled-something pain? The simple rule to determine normal exercise pain versus abnormal: If the pain is gradual and goes away shortly after the workout, you’re probably fine. But sharp, specific pain that gets progressively worse? Not good.

Many rebellious teenagers will try smoking—including, apparently, orangutans. Tori, an orangutan at a zoo in Indonesia, has been smoking for a decade now, ever since she was a young orangutan and obnoxious zoo visitors started throwing smokes into her cage. But the zoo has had enough of her behavior and has decided to help her kick the habit by moving her enclosure to a more secluded area farther away from human peer pressure.